


The Astronomy Tower

by Yatorihell



Series: In The Darkness [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, ノラガミ | Noragami
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 15:31:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11443797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yatorihell/pseuds/Yatorihell
Summary: Yato, Yukine and Hiyori spend the night stargazing instead of doing their homework.Happy birthday Wolf! (wolfisyatotrash.tumblr.com)





	The Astronomy Tower

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be a sub-section and evolved into a full-fledged chapter, whoops.

Yato spent most of his free time loitering and tailing Takemikazuchi and Kugaha whenever he thought they were up to something. The opportunity to raid their personal quarters, however, didn’t present itself, much to Yato’s dismay.

Hiyori and Yukine seemed to have dropped the subject, only enquiring about it when they were in private as to not draw attention to themselves. Yato was thankful that they were in separate houses as it meant that they wouldn’t be lingering around to make things more difficult for him, or to ask unwanted questions.

The remainder of winter dragged out, eventually giving away to longer hours of bleak sunshine and lashings of Great British weather, particularly rain and overcast days, as spring crept in.

When daffodils began to bloom unexpectedly overnight and the new leaves on the trees began to rustle, Hiyori’s thoughts turned to thoughts of Easter break which was a few weeks away. Until then, like the rest of the school, she was sat in class. Though this class was unlike her others.

Every Wednesday at midnight, she had a class. Quite an odd time, you would think, but not when you knew the subject was astronomy. The most impressive aspect of this class was its location; the Astronomy Tower. The highest tower in the whole castle overlooking the Great Lake which mirrored the night sky, only interrupted by gentle ripples breaking the illusion of perfect reflection. But the class’ interest did not lie below them, but spread above them.

Starlight slashed through the navy sky, intruded by smatterings of dark clouds here and there within the clusters of stars. Their task for tonight was to observe the Lyrid meteor shower, though no asteroids had appeared yet.

Sat on her decorative pillow with her brass telescope, Hiyori pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders and stifled a yawn. The professor’s voice was making it very hard to keep her eyes open, the soft droning about astral and celestial bodies was enough to make anyone fall asleep, even if it weren’t midnight.

Propping her head up with her arm resting on her drawn up knees, Hiyori stared at the sky listlessly, counting the stars as if they were sheep. In the semicircle they were sat in, Hiyori could see Yama with her head leaning heavily against Aimi’s shoulder, her mouth wide open as she snored. Aimi herself had removed her glasses, eyes too tired and strained to cope with paying attention through the eyepiece of her telescope.

A few metres away from Hiyori was Yukine, his own yellow blanket pulled over his head until he resembled a hooded figure Hiyori had seen in a film when she was younger.

 _E.T.?_ Hiyori thought mildly, a smile tugging at her lips as she watched the occasional bob of Yukine’s head, his chin hitting his chest and startling him back to attention.

He let the blanket fall from his head to his shoulders, showing his mussed up blonde hair, which was now sticking up in unruly tufts. Not bothering to cover his mouth, Yukine shamelessly yawned as often as he could in the hopes that the lesson would finish sooner. Or he would get released early.

Neither happened until the professor’s miniature cuckoo clock sprang to life, the ornate hands pointing the time to be 1 o’clock exactly.

Yama startled awake at the sound and Aimi’s head snapped up, feigning attentiveness as the class roused back to life, grateful for the class to be over and to be allowed to go to bed. The class dispersed slowly, others moving more slowly than others and a few people having to be woken by their friends before the teacher deducted points for lack of attention.

Hiyori stretched and yawned widely, folding her telescope down and bundling her things up into her arms and making her way to the tower door. With any luck, she would manage to get some sleep and manage her classes the next day.

 

~

 

Unfortunately, Hiyori didn’t get much sleep as dawn broke a few hours later, marking the start of a new day, and the beginning of Easter break. Late that afternoon after classes had finished, a few students had packed up ready to go home to rest before the exam season begun. Hiyori opted to stay and enjoy her free time; she wouldn’t get to see or use magic for a few months once the summer holidays started.

Although exhausted, Yukine still didn’t seem to want to go home, just like he hadn’t for Christmas. Part of Hiyori wanted to ask about his life – it must’ve been more interesting than hers – but some sort of barrier seemed to guard the topic.

Instead, they sat together in the near-empty Great Hall. Hiyori was trying to read the assignment that had been given to them as homework. Though it was near impossible as they hadn’t seen any asteroids or managed to identify the constellations, it was made harder by the fact that her sleep deprivation had begun to take its toll.

Yukine had completely given up his struggle to stay awake and planted his forehead firmly on the desk, ready to take a nap. Behind him, a familiar face appeared and seemed to get an evil idea to scare him until Hiyori cleared her throat. Yato looked up, his face falling a bit at Hiyori’s warning glare. Sitting down glumly, they both watched Yukine for a moment.

“What’s up with him?” Yato asked, debating if it was worth pulling some kind of prank on Yukine whilst he slept. A set of cat ears might suit him.

“We had a late class. Astronomy,” Hiyori stifled a yawn after answering, but Yato seemed interested.

“Astronomy?”

“Yeah, watching the Lyrids meteor shower.”

“See anything?”

“No, we’ll miss it,” Hiyori said, propping her chin up. “It doesn’t peak ‘til Saturday, and class is on Wednesday.”

Yato hummed quietly.

“Well why don’t we go watch it?” he asked, directing the question at the dozing lump of blond hair and Hiyori’s surprised face. Yukine rolled his head to the side, snippets of the conversation catching his attention enough for him to slur a response.

“It’s at four in the morning,” he reminded him, as that small detailed seemed to be lost to Yato.

“Good thing it’s Easter break then.”

“The best place to watch it is the Astronomy Tower.” Hiyori added, hoping that he would get the point.

He didn’t.

“I know.”

“It’s out of bounds.”

“So?” Yato had a mischievous look in his eyes. His newest scheme already threatening to get them kicked out of the school.

“And how,” Hiyori said with an exasperated sigh, “would we get up there?”

“I’ll get you two up there!” Yato exclaimed.

“I doubt your magic cloak can help us get through a locked door,” Hiyori said doubtfully.

Yato cracked a grin, eyes alight with a dreadful idea. Hiyori hadn’t exactly protested the idea, so maybe she would consider it.

“We don’t need to use a door.”

 

~

 

At 3:36AM both Hiyori and Yukine were sat on one of the boulders overlooking the lake, the inky-black water reflecting shafts of moonlight on its tides that lapped near their feet. As agreed – or rather, compelled – they had arrived at their vague meeting spot to go along with Yato’s completely ludicrous plan. Considering he had pointed out the blank star chart Hiyori had in front of her, his claims that this ‘private tutoring’ would ‘excel their studies’ was too good to pass up.

By the time Yato had arrived – fashionably late as usual –, Yukine was just about ready to leave as it was a few minutes until the meteor shower would peak. Yato’s feet crunched on the shingle as he approached, a broom taller than himself clutched in his hand. His standard black robe – which had been shoved at the bottom of his trunk until then – enshrouded his appearance and blended him into the night. Likewise, Hiyori and Yukine had followed his instructions to wear their own robes to keep some sense of anonymity. They were breaking and entering, after all.

“Evening!” he called out cheerfully.

Yukine and Hiyori turned to look over their shoulders and shuffled down off of their perch, lugging their bags over their shoulders. Yukine muttered some kind of profanity under his breath as they approached Yato who had stopped and leant on his broom as if it were a staff.

“You’re late,” Hiyori said before Yukine could rip into Yato.

Yato smirked. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

Hiyori looked at the broom, recognising it as the Nimbus Two Thousand that Yato had flown in the November Quidditch match.

“I take it that this is what you meant when you said: ‘We don’t need to use a door’?”

“Correctamundo!” Yato said, standing up straight and holding the broom out in front of him. He let it fall, but it suspended itself in the air, patiently waiting for its owner.

“Not much space,” Yukine grumbled. He was getting antsy from his lack of sleep, and it was threatening to sour the mood. Yato breezed past the observation with a simple solution.

“I’ll fly you up first, then I’ll come back for Hiyori.”

Hiyori nodded duly, but Yukine gave Yato an untrusting glance. “How do I know you won’t drop me in the lake?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Yato declared as Yukine awkwardly sat in front of him, bag nearly hitting Yato in the face. A grin split across Yato’s face as he readied himself to lift off.

“I don’t believe badgers can swim!”

As soon as the gibe left his lips, and before Yukine could turn around to bash his head in, Yato had kicked his feet onto the stirrups and straightened his back, grin turning to one of lunacy as they rocketed across the lake. Yukine yelled in surprise, fighting to reclaim his balance whilst Yato cackled and steered them to the lake at alarming speed.

Hiyori let out a shriek of worry as her hands clapped over her mouth, watching them hurtle towards the face of the cliff before abruptly turning upwards and away, speed slowing considerably as they drifted to the top of the tower and disappeared from sight. No doubt Yukine was clinging to the broom for dear life and would try to beat the shit out of Yato once they landed – if he could see straight.

After a few moments Hiyori could make out the faint figure of Yato swooping back down to her, more elegantly than he did on his way up.  Once he was low enough, Yato skidded the broom in mid-air so he came to a stop right by Hiyori’s side with a self-satisfied grin.

“Don’t even _think_ of doing that to me.” Hiyori said icily, her trust in Yato’s ability to not splat her against the cliff fading fast.

“I couldn’t resist.” Yato’s grin didn’t waiver. Instead he drummed his fingers on the shaft of the broom. They stood apart quietly, Hiyori watching Yato and him looking back up at the tower. Eventually he looked back at her.

“Are you going to get on or what?” he asked in an impatient tone. Hiyori’s eyes flicked to his face, and back to the broom. She hadn’t flown – successfully – since her first lesson. So, never. First years couldn’t have their own brooms, so she didn’t have the opportunity to practice. Unless…

“Could I…?” Hiyori began to ask somewhat shyly, admiring the polished mahogany and brush bristles that hadn’t a straw out of place. Yato looked at her, confused, before clicking what she was getting at.

“You're a broom fanatic, I knew it!” he groaned dramatically, as if the very thought was enough to make his nauseous.

“What’s wrong with that?!” Hiyori shot back defiantly, “Brooms are cool!”

“So cool that you can't control yourself and crash them into the first person you can find?” Yato replied gibingly, a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.

Hiyori opened her mouth to protest back, but shut it again. She couldn’t exactly refute her skills on a broom. She folded her arms over her chest in a pout, remembering obliterated broomstick from her first flying lesson.

“No way I'm letting you fly this thing after last time, I have a quidditch match next month,” Yato paused for a moment before adding “and I’d like to live.”

Hiyori shot him a deathly glare which Yato ignored, patting the space on the broom in front of him. “Come on.”

Hiyori sat – rather uncomfortably – in front of him. Trying not to slip back onto him would prove a difficult task as she had already seen the reckless way he flies. She leant forward and gripped the broom for dear life, expecting the worst, albeit Yato’s flying was much better than hers.

Yato tightened his grip on the broom behind Hiyori, entertaining the idea for moment if she were to fall into the Great Lake as soon they left the ground. Yato kicked his feet hard into the earth with enough force to lift them both of the ground. The broom wobbled slightly as Hiyori leant lower onto the broom like a cat on a wire, her eyes squeezed shut.

Yato nestled his feet in the curved grooves of the golden stirrups, steadily gaining height until they were high enough to skim over the surface of the lake and slowly glide up towards the Astronomy Tower, moonlight framing its silhouette against the black sky.

Yato looked at the dimly lit windows of the surrounding towers, wary if someone was watching them, before looking ahead. The lump of billowing robes in front of him told him Hiyori was not going to budge until she was back on solid ground.

“How’s the view up there?” he asked cheerfully, the smile evident in his voice.

“Dunno.” Hiyori’s voice was barely audible, muffled by the robes blowing up against her face.

“Open your eyes.”

Hiyori stayed silent. She didn’t move, or scream, so it was safe to assume that she hadn’t seen the view. Though it would’ve made the flight worse if she saw the drop to the rocks below and freaked out.

Within a few minutes they’d touched down on the cobbled stones of the Astronomy Tower. Yukine was lying flat on his back, the cushion from his bag propped his head up slightly. His arm was flung over his eyes as if he had given up on the whole plan, or was feeling extremely sick from his flight. Reason compelled Hiyori to believe it was the latter.

“You ok, Yukine?” Hiyori asked. Yukine grunted a yes, moving his arm and blearily looking at the two.

“You’re alive,” he remarked, slightly bitter that Hiyori looked unscathed from her flight, “good.”

“We wouldn’t be if she had flown,” Yato interjected, pacing over to Yukine, “she just about ripped the broom from my hands wanting to fly.”

“I did not!” Hiyori exclaimed loudly.

“You’re the reason first years can’t have brooms, Hiyori.” Yukine said, pushing himself up as Yato sat down beside him. He watched Hiyori who had walked to the edge of the tower, peering over the edge at the courtyard below, then up to the stars.

“Sit down,” he called, “it’ll start soon.”

Hiyori leant back and pushed herself firmly away from the wall, trotting over to sit on the other side of Yato. Shrugging off her bag, she pulled out a cushion which she wedged underneath her, and drew her arms out of her robes to make a cosy shroud. Another dive into her bag produced the star chart they had to complete, an astronomy book, and writing equipment.

“The Lyrids come from the constellation of Lyra,” Hiyori murmured. She scanned the sky for the familiar constellation amongst the smattering of stars. The chart was partly filled in, and the textbook gave her some guidance of what to look for given their position.

“We’re facing South so the meteors should come from…” Yato pointed at some abstract part of the sky, which Yukine and Hiyori squinted at, “there.”

“We know, we did this in class.” Yukine said tiredly. He had yet to take out his own homework. Hiyori had a sneaking suspicion that he would just copy his Hufflepuff friend.

Yato shrugged, face turned skywards in a temporary silence. After a moment, he pointed at the sky.

“That’s Draco, you can see the curve of its tail.” Yato swished his finger in the air to and fro at the invisible creature.

Hiyori searched for the semi-familiar shape of the constellation before Yato pointed out another before looking back at the textbook.

“On the right is Hercules,” he dragged his finger through the air, outlining the misshapen form of what was meant to be the Greek hero. Hiyori hummed distractedly, noting down star names and connecting them to make constellations that looked nothing like they ought to.

Yato fell quiet and tilted his face to the sky, looping his arms around his knees. Yukine had splayed out on the ground, fighting to keep his eyes open with his arms crossed behind his head. After a while Hiyori finished writing and pushed her bag away, drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them. The shower should be about to start.

Unsure of how much time had passed, or if he had fallen asleep and been left behind, Yukine cracked open an eye just in time to see the first meteor fly into his line of sight, and hear the wondrous _‘oh’_ that Hiyori breathed.

A handful of white-hot fireballs grazed the night with blazing trails of stardust, snapping the trio’s attention here and there as they briefly streaked across the sky before fizzling out. For the first half hour they watched the kaleidoscope of comets whizzing through the air in a comfortable silence. Hiyori turned her head to the side. Yukine now had his eyes closed and his chest was moving rhythmically, whilst Yato was staring – quite literally – into space.

“Hey, Yato?”

Yato blinked once and moved his head slightly, humming slightly to show his attention.

“Thank you.”

Yato’s face still turned skyward but was slightly rosy. A ghost of a smile flickered across his lips. “You’re welcome.”

The shower ended as quickly as it had started. One hour after they had fell into a comfortable silence, with Yukine’s faint snores, the sky had lightened slightly and left no evidence of the spectacle they had witnessed. The mass of constellations that had been so easy to pick out were now obscured by dawn breaking through the valley, dipping the lake into light golden colours.

“Ready to go?” Yato asked quietly. There had been no meteors for 10 minutes, meaning the peak had passed. Hiyori hummed a yes, unfolding her body and stretching her legs out.

Yato tapped Yukine’s nose twice and watched it scrunch up as he cracked open his eyes.

“Time to go, Sleeping Beauty.” Yato gibbed. Yukine’s inability to process words, given that he had just woken up, may have saved Yato from a poorly-aimed punch.

Yukine rolled over onto his side and pushed himself up groggily. Hiyori and Yato had already stood up, Yato readying his broom to take them back down - a dreadful thought as he remembered his first-hand experience flying with Yato.

Yato caught the anguished look Yukine had and grinned. “I'll be good this time.”

Yukine grunted, getting to his feet and shoving his pillow and uncompleted homework into his bag. He sat in front of Yato again, hands clutching it tightly in case Yato had another surprise in store. He didn't.

The flight down took much longer than it did on the way up, probably because Yato had decided not to plummet downwards, and was more careful of being spotted as they flew low out of sight of the turret windows.

Yato didn't bother touching down, instead waiting for Yukine to hop off before gliding back towards the Astronomy Tower.

Hiyori quietly hopped on the broom once Yato had come back. She didn't lean down on the brooms this time, but still clutched it like a life and kept her eyes screwed shut as the descending feeling and the wind in her hair told her she was at the mercy of Yato’s flying. Not that he had been that bad the first time.

Yato let Hiyori jump off where he had left Yukine, who was dragging a hand across his eyes and looking sullen that his sleep had been interrupted. Dismounting, Yato pulled the hood of his cloak up. Yukine and Hiyori followed suit and began following Yato who had begun treading across the shingle. Their footsteps crunched and the unevenness made them stumble slightly until they reached the path.

With muted thanks and goodbyes, they kept their heads down as they quickly manoeuvred through the castle doors and split to their respective dorms, cloaks trailing stardust in their wake as a new day dawned on the castle.


End file.
